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In Tirana, apartment prices in residential towers are selling for over 6 thousand euros per square meter.
According to announcements published online by real estate agencies, a 154 square meter apartment in the "Downtown One" tower is being offered for sale at a price of 950 thousand euros or about 6,200 euros per square meter.
Real estate agents contacted by Monitor confirmed that they still have several units for sale in this building. According to them, these are furnished apartments that have not been previously occupied and are considered among the last remaining units available for sale.
In 2021, when the “Downtown One” building had just been completed, the sales office contacted by Monitor stated that apartment prices ranged from 3,200 to 3,400 euros per square meter. Within 5 years, prices in this building have increased by 82% to 94%, becoming almost twice as high as in 2021.
This double-digit price increase, disconnected from the pace of income growth, is reigniting the debate about whether the real estate market is overvalued and whether there is a risk of creating a bubble.
According to INSTAT data, in the first quarter of 2026, the average gross monthly salary for an employee reached 90,119 lekë. Compared to the same period in 2025, the average salary increased by 9.6%. This performance was also influenced by the increase in the minimum wage, which from January 1, 2026 became 50 thousand lekë, from 40 thousand lekë previously.
Meanwhile, real estate agents claim that demand for real estate is declining compared to a year ago.
Ylli Sula, head of “Çelësi” Keydata Albania, says that one of the main factors influencing the decline in demand is the situation created in the country, where SPAK has launched investigations against a number of criminal groups, which according to him has also influenced the slowdown of investments in the real estate market. According to him, this has led to a withdrawal of some buyers who were investing in real estate, causing demand to decline.
However, real estate agents note that although demand is declining, this has not yet been reflected in price reductions.
On the other hand, the rapid pace of price increases, which does not keep up with household income growth, is worsening the affordability of housing. Stela Dhami, head of Colliers Albania, notes that the affordability of buying an apartment in Albania is lower than the average for European Union countries.
"In Albania, the ratio between real estate prices and average income is much more unfavorable. It takes a couple with an average income about 15–19 years to buy an apartment, while the average in European Union countries ranges from 10 to 12 years."
"Many factors influence this analysis, but the most important are the high prices of real estate in relation to family income, as well as the high costs of mortgage loans, which continue to be difficult for the budget of Albanian families," Ms. Dhami previously stated.
The latest Bank of Albania confidence index found that the construction confidence indicator (CBI) decreased by 0.8 percentage points in June. The decrease in CBI was driven by declining estimates for order contracts, while current construction activity remained at the same levels. Expectations for future prices are also down.
According to the Fischer index, calculated by the Bank of Albania, the average price of homes sold in the second half of 2025 increased by 11.7% compared to the first half of 2025 and by 28% compared to the same period a year earlier. Although prices continued to increase, the pace slowed significantly compared to the 41.7% increase recorded in the first half of 2025, signaling a gradual cooling of the market./Monitor
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